Grayson: 'Holocaust' Not 'Best Choice Of Words'

Rep. Alan Grayson followed up his fiery appearance on CNN last night by going on Rachel Maddow's show and repeating his charge that Republicans are "Neanderthals."

Grayson has made a number of striking statements in the last couple days, declaring on the House floor that the Republican health care plan calls for sick Americans to "die quickly" and that the current health care crisis is a "holocaust."

Last night, Maddow asked Grayson several times whether he regretted using the word "holocaust." She called it a "hyperbolic, over-the-top charge" and said it's "always a bad choice of words unless you're talking about the actual Holocaust."

Grayson sidestepped Maddow's question a couple times, but finally said, "Rachel, it may not have been the best choice of words. But I will say this -- my words don't matter. That's not what's important here. What's important is we do what we need to do."

Grayson went on to say that "people want a Democrat with guts," and repeated his classification of Republicans as Neanderthals.

We're dealing with people on the other side who are utterly unscrupulous. These are foot-dragging, knuckle-dragging Neanderthals who know nothing but 'no.'

Here's the video: